COVID-19 cases rising, What to know about the new highly contagious variant
COVID-19 wastewater viral activity has reached "very high" levels in 26 states, including California, for the first time since last winter according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC reports that more than 70% of illnesses are stemming from a new group of highly contagious COVID-19 strains known as the FLiRT variants. "FLiRT" describes an entire family of multiple variants that appear to have the same set of mutations. FLiRT variants are descendants of the Omicron strain, specifically from the JN.1 lineage.
"Viruses do routinely mutate a change," says Barbara Cole, the Riverside University Director for Disease Control. "So it's not uncommon that we have a new one, and as we start to see some uptick in COVID cases."
"KP3", the newest variant added to this group, represents over 30% of COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to Riverside County health experts.
News Channel 2's Shay Lawson asked Barbara Cole for her opinion on how dangerous she believes the KP3 variant is to the general public.
"How ill people are also has to do with their underlying health conditions, the elderly, [and] the people who are immunocompromised," said Cole. "Just like any other variant for COVID, you have people at higher risk "
Local healthcare experts from facilities including Desert Regional Medical Center and Riverside County Health System say they are not currently seeing a surge in cases in the area.
"Well, currently in the hospital, we're not seeing a huge surge," states Michael Soto-Tapia, Director of the Emergency Department at Desert Regional. "We currently have three patients inpatient. Most of the patients who have come into the E.D. that have COVID symptoms or tested positive for COVID get discharged home."
Soto-Tapia also mentioned that the latest developments in COVID-19 vaccination efforts are focused on addressing these new variants.
"The CDC doesn't recommend that anybody get a vaccination during the months of July and August, because of the new vaccines that come out in the fall," said Soto-Tapia.
